The Livy Method Podcast - Livy Method Day 32 - Spring 2025

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

Gina Livy's Facebook Lives from The Livy Method Spring 2025 Support Group hosted on Facebook. This is a recording of the Day 32, 9 AM live. You can find the full video hosted at: www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodspring2025In this episode, Gina unpacks why our relationship with food goes far beyond hunger—it's rooted in celebration, coping, and survival. She highlights the mental and emotional layers that often get overlooked, sharing why weight gain has more to do with life’s curveballs than a lack of willpower. Gina explains how downsizing isn't about restriction, but about understanding your mindset around portions. She reframes hunger as a sign that your body is communicating, not something to fear or fix. Throughout the conversation, she makes it clear: true success comes from addressing the behaviours behind the weight, not just the food.To learn more about The Livy Method, visit livymethod.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Gina Livi and welcome to the Livi Method Podcast. This is where you'll have access to all of the live streams from my 91 Day Weight Loss program. With a combination of daily lives, guest expert interviews, and member stories, there is something new almost every day. Miss the Morning Live? Want to relisten to one of our amazing guest experts? Well, this is the place.

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It's a Thursday. You've been downsizing for a few days now. How is that going? How are you feeling? You know, the food part, the what to eat and when part, moving your body part, all of that is like pretty standard when it comes to weight loss, right? We all know this from other diets where we've done. It's really about that behavioral change. It's really about not just rewiring how

your body has come to function, obviously, but also how your brain has come to function. And you're here to really learn about where you've been, where you are, and the things that you need to do and work through to get to where you need to go. I mean, that's it at the end of the day. It's all about making change and change is not an easy thing to do. And because we use food for so many things and we can be pretty messed up about it, we're so

confused on what to eat, what not to eat, we're confused on why we eat, because we use food for so many things. We use food to show love, to celebrate, to console, to cope. And also at the end of the day, we also use food to survive. And so we need to eat. We need to eat. And of course we've had Sandra Elia join us, food addiction expert. And that's where things get even more complicated. And then you add in a history of dieting

and you add in pressure from your parents, from your friends, from your peers. You add in judgment and you add all of that. It's a very, it can become a very simple thing. Calories in versus calories out. Eat less, exercise more. Of course, that is going to work. If you're in a calorie deficit, you will probably lose weight.

Of course, now we know it's more complex than that at the end of the day too, because it has to do with your metabolism and your hormones and you can be in a calorie deficit. If you're stressed out, you're not sleeping and your hormones are a mess. And not only are you not gain, you're not losing weight. You can end up gaining weight. That was what happened was happening with me. I was hardly eating anything, exercising my face off. My stress was through the roof and I wasn't sleeping. And my weight just got just went up and up and up and up.

So it's about really understanding what you need, understanding your relationship to food, understanding your issues and associations tied into it, understanding your habits, understanding your triggers, understanding your beliefs, believing that not only can you do it, but believing that you are also worthy as well. And so that's such a big part of what we're trying to do here. If you go to the Canadian obesity summits that I've been to, they've got the physical part, right?

And now they have these JLP ones, which are amazing. That can really help with food noise. They can help with your appetite and whatnot, but they don't help you make good choices. They don't help you understand what your body needs. They don't help you work through old habits, coping mechanisms. They don't help you believe that you're worthy. They don't help you with sabot old habits, coping mechanisms. They don't help you believe that you're worthy. They don't help you with sabotage or any of those things.

And so it really comes down to the behavioral piece. And this is the piece that they're having a hard time with. And because it's the making the change part, that's hard. And so you'll notice with the program, the tweaks that it's not rocket science, the living method at the end of the day, right? You eat all this good nutrient rich foods. Yes, minimizing, you know, your breads and pastas can help but breads and pastas were not why you gain weight in the first place.

And you can absolutely add them in some people do they continue to have their avocado toast in the morning with some eggs, they continue to have pasta every now and then and pizza and whatnot and lose weight just fine. Some people who maybe have more insulin resistance, have some digestive issues, have a harder time with that. So sure, minimizing those heavier carbs absolutely helps at the end of the day. But it's really about the changes

that you're making in your brain. It's the consistently making the choices that you need to make and how they add up and make a big difference physically and mentally. It's about changing the way you live, your habits, right? Rather than a person who stresses when they're eating, you're a person who goes for a walk, calls a friend, reads a book, has a bath. And so it's really about changing your lifestyle. I used to be really resistant to people saying the Libby Method is a lifestyle. I would be like, nope, it's a

diet because I didn't want to fool people that it's not a diet and people want to lose weight. And that's why you're here at the end of the day. But it's really that behavioral piece. That's the part I think that is like, as we talked to all of our guest experts at the beginning, you might have missed that conversation where we asked Dr. Paul and Dr. Dena and Dr. Beverly and Dr. Alinka, what's the secret sauce? They all had a bit of a different response, but it all came down to continuing to show up and make the changes that you specifically need to make. And so that brings us to downsizing this week. And so a lot of this is why downsizing is less about eating less.

And yes, we absolutely have to get in tune to our portions. You're probably gotten used to eating larger portions and you feel like that's what you need. We definitely absolutely have to get in tune to our portions. You're probably gotten used to eating larger portions and you feel like that's what you need. We definitely absolutely have to get in tune to those portions, but it's about the thoughts and the feels that you have about those portions where you're terrified you're not eating enough or you're worried about food waste, food scarcity. I mean, these are things that you need to address

to really make that foundational change so that once you've lost your weight, the's not the world does not have an issue with weight loss. The world has an issue with being able to maintain and sustain your weight. And that is what I'm here to try to facilitate. Why I have these amazing guest experts while we're talking to real people and having very real conversations. What do you need to do to not just lose your weight in a healthy way? But more importantly be able to sustain and maintain it no matter how you do it with exercise calorie deficit

GLP ones bariatric surgery whatever you do. That's the part that people are having a hard time with it's not the weight loss That's not the problem and I'm sure you've lost weight before It's being able to maintain and sustain it and in the end. It it's like, okay, if you gain your weight back, why? Well, I got stressed, I fell back into old habits. Why? Okay, well, I started to go through perimenopause and my body was chaos and I didn't know how to manage that. No, why?

Oh, I went back to eating my large portions again and started snacking on this and snacking on that. I stopped managing my stress. I stopped. I went back to watching Netflix until two o'clock in the morning. Right? It's understanding what you need to do to be able to lose your weight. It's understanding what you need to do to be able to maintain your weight. And it's understanding how not to gain weight. And so that's about understanding yourself. And so with the downsizing this week, it's bringing up all sorts of fields.

What are the themes? What's going through your mind? What are the things that you're struggling with? Try to name it. What are you having a hard time with? And this is why we don't wanna necessarily use smaller plates and trick our brains. We wanna be able to be at a restaurant

and have our food served on a regular plate and then just know when I've had enough, I've had enough. And then I feel okay with, hey, can you pack that in a doggie bag for me? I'm going to take it home or take out whatever you want to call it. And so that's what it is. Don't get too caught up and tripped up in the tweaks itself. You're following the food plan. Chances are if you want to talk calorie deficit, if you're following the food plan, chances are you are in a more of a calorie deficit than you were before you came into the program because you're just eating all this good nutrient rich foods at the end of the day. And if you're still tracking, fine, you can track that. But you still want to go through the motions of the tweaks each week because they're so multi-layered and it's about approaching weight

loss from a variety of different angles and the thoughts and the feels that are brought up and following a consistent routine. So you can really, what's normal for your body, what's not. And so this week, we're understanding off the heels of eating dissatisfaction. So we started just eat until you feel satisfied. And probably some of you are noticing that was just clearing your plate or eating until you, your sense of satisfaction was eating until you were actually full. And then we find that tune that a little bit to eat enough so that you're walking away

as the body starts to process and digest your foods feeling satisfied and not stuff. And then this week, it's just slightly unsatisfied, slightly unsatisfied, why still giving your body all this good nutrient rich foods. And so it's good to know when you've overeaten when you've had enough and when you're still hungry And it's really important to understand the difference between those and also when you're being triggered, right? When you are eating out of habit because you're used to you go to the movies and you eat the popcorn Even though you don't want to eat the popcorn you go to the movies you eat the popcorn right you come home you have dinner you have dessert even though you maybe don't want dessert you have dessert um triggers right so where are

we talking about this we're talking about this in the maintenance group um with Odette the other day people are like i don't know i want ice cream i want i just want ice cream and we're like okay let's let's roll it back to the weekend when it was sunny, right? What are we seeing? The DQ commercials, we're associating it's sunny, we're going to go get ice cream. It's summertime. Like that's by association, right? So just really understanding what you need. That's what it's all about. So have fun with the tweaks. The tweaks aren't meant to stress you out. They're meant to kind of, kind of look at things a little different and have you be more self-aware and Aware of how your body is responding to these changes that you are making And now before I get into your questions, I want to talk to people whose scale hasn't moved yet

Why what's going on and what do you think? Right. Are you consistent? Are you making your food choices nutrient-rich? What's going on with your portions? Are you adding in extras? We got to be honest about this. Are you eating enough? Right because we know some so many people are used to thinking less is more You got to make sure you're giving your body enough, especially when it comes to protein We're gonna get into numbers and we're gonna talk about that with dr. Paul. How much protein to you do you need? That's a big huge massive conversation these days out there and you want to make sure you're getting enough protein But eating more protein than you need? That's a big, huge, massive conversation these days out there. And you want to make sure you're getting enough protein, but eating more protein than you need isn't beneficial

either. And people come in different shapes and sizes. And so you want to make sure you're getting that that protein in where you're getting your calories from absolutely is important. And so just some just some just some food for thought when it comes to the tweaks this week and as we move forward and start making changes, they are meant to bring up the fields. They're meant to have you go, they're meant to help you understand what you need at the end of the day. So make sure you are super clear on this tweak and let us know if you have any questions. I almost felt like quitting, but I really want this triggers and old habits. I hear that.

Yeah. That's what this is about. If you ask what is the difference between, why is the living method different? What are you even fucking doing here at the end of the day, right? Think about other diets that you've done. Everyone's like, oh, with the living method, you have to keep doing it.

Well, how many people had lifetime memberships to Weight Watchers? It was an ongoing thing. With the living method, we want you to do as many programs as you need till you reach your goal and you acquire the tools and the skills that you need to feel confident to be able to move on and maintain and sustain your weight. I lost over 100 pounds 30 years ago ago and I've been able to maintain and sustain my weight. There have been times in my life where things have been more chaotic and stressful and my weight would go on the higher ends and then it would go on the lower end.

Just this last couple of years, my weight went up. I gained like 16 pounds, which was like higher than it's ever been in 30 years. Well, actually I lost my weight and then I had kids. So I gained like 80 and then 60. So I'm not including my four pregnancies. Also my son is turning 18 today. What the?

My son is turning 18 today. I cannot believe it's crazy. He's my youngest. He's my youngest. So I gained 16 pounds and super bloated. What was going on? So super high stress of running a company that I just didn't have any experience

like doing that before. And did I have help? Did I love my job? Absolutely. But it was new to me. My kid's dad, you guys all know he passed away. And so that was stressful with my kids. I had a child going through some severe mental health issues. That was

very stressful. And I went through perimenopause and I almost made it twice to menopause. Trying to get there. I went nine months and I think I'm on seven now. I'm trying to get to try to get there. And so that's a recipe for me of situational change where I had never gone through that before. And so but did I have the tools and the skills that I needed to understand what I needed? Now was I bit in denial? No, it's just effects of COVID. I'm not stressed. I love my job. I'm fine. Got to do what I got to do. I know what I need to do all of those things. Well, I'm fine, got to do what I got to do. I know what I need to do, all of those things. Well, I'm human just like everybody else

and I know what I needed to do, but it wasn't that. It was showing up and doing the things that I needed to do. And so I've been able to maintain my weight for 30 years and there's times where I'm on the high end and sometimes where like I'm on the low end because I'm like, I'm on a health kick and I'm exercising. I'm feeling good. I'm managing my stress and it's a good season of my life

where there's no stress and all of that. And so think about other diets that you've done, right? So same thing, no different if you did Weight Watchers, you probably do moments where you did really well, and other times in your life where you maybe gained that weight back and you tried again and whatever. So we don't count, weigh, and measure.

And not that that isn't a way to lose your weight, but you don't need to count and weigh to lose weight. And that doesn't help you maintain and sustain your weight. This talk of like, if you lose weight through keto, you have to do keto your whole life. If you lose weight through counting your macros, you have to count macros your whole life. If you lose weight through doing points, you have to do points your own life. If you lose weight with the living method, through being in tune to your body's needs, you have to be in tune to your body's needs for your whole life. That's what I want for you. I want for you to trust when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat, and not have

to do math and count and weigh and measure. That's why the Living Method app, you're not counting and weighing and measuring. Yes, you're tracking because we know there is a lot of science that when you are tracking, when you are journaling, it helps to keep it into the forefront of your mind. It helps you to be more consistent. The more consistent you are, the more changes you're going to see at the end of the day. But you've done other diets, you're just randomly counting, weighing, measuring, trying to do this, trying to do that.

And this is about bringing all the things that you're doing under one umbrella. Right. So yes, you got the food part. We've taken care of that. We've created a balanced diet, what to eat and when that's going to change diet. What to eat when that's going to change and evolve as you go. It's going to change and evolve as you go. So at the end, you're going to be eating more and even more in tune to your body's needs.

So no counting, no weighing, no measuring. The guided program and process is very systematic. There's a rhyme and a reason. The body loves routine. And so we make these changes each week that in your mind are like, Oh my god, I'm a little bit freaked out by them. They're, they're a little bit weird. But that's great. It gets you thinking outside of the box. It gets you seeing things from a different perspective. Right. So

it's that base routine that your body loves, plus these small little changes like look at the look at what happened to us just from eating a few bites less, few bites less, what that does to our mind. And then our focus is always maintenance. And that's why I'm always saying big picture, big picture, big picture. There's no reason why you can't lose your weight.

There's lots of reasons why it can be more difficult for some people. The end game is always maintenance. Learning what you need to learn, working through what you need to work through working through what you need to work through, doing what you need to do to not just lose your weight, be able to maintain and sustain your weight, but be able to go live your life.

You know, it's, we used to use the saying finally and forever, and we still do. We want you to lose your weight finally and forever, but that it's not like you just get there and you do nothing and you just reach your goal. You have the tools and the skills that you need to be able to maintain and sustain your weight forever. That doesn't mean that you're not going to have fluctuation. That doesn't mean that your weight's not going to the higher end. You're like, oh, shit. Yes, I got to get a handle on what's going on, but you'll have the tools and the skills

and you'll know yourself enough to know why that's happening and what you need at the end of the day. So I want you to just have fun with the tweaks each week. Like we're not here to we're here to we're here to lose weight. Absolutely. We want to take that real seriously, but we also want you to have fun to get to know yourself and to understand at the end of the day. It's about learning the skills and the tools that you need to understand your yourself and your body and not only what you need to lose weight, but what you what you need to be able to maintain and sustain your weight and what you need to eventually be able to live your life to trust when to eat what to eat and how much to eat. So there we go. Nobody but nobody will keep me away from coir the dairy. Guys talking about ice cream. That's that trigger, right? I said ice cream and then there you go. Ice cream. Hi Gina, leaving small tokens. Let me see. Hi Demetri. Demetra.

Leaving small tokens of bites on the plate has just resonated with me as my parents always wanted us to finish our food when we were young as as not to waste. My cholesterol levels are higher than January and I'm getting concerned. Any suggestions? Okay, so a couple things. I don't know how old you are, but menopause absolutely can mess with your cholesterol levels. So that's one thing that you might want to check out.

A lot of times with cholesterol levels, people are talking about avoiding saturated high-fat foods. And yes, of course, you want to make sure you're getting enough omega-3s. You want to be mindful of your omega-6s and your nines, your saturated foods. Take an omega-3 supplement. That can absolutely help because if you're not eating a lot of fish, then you're probably not getting the omega-3s that you need in your diet. So adding an omega-3 supplement,

watching your saturated fats, absolutely. But also sugars is another big one, although you're following the program, you're probably minimizing your sugar intake. The other one is stress. Stress can have your cholesterol levels up and also so can your hormones, like I mentioned. Also what can happen, and I don't know where you're at,

but if you are getting your cholesterol levels tested while you are losing weight, you actually can come up higher on higher levels with cholesterol. So you can Google that. Lost weight, cholesterol levels are higher. So that will come down and settle. So if you say to your doctor,

I've lost a bit of weights, that might be what's going on at the end of the day. I hear you when it comes to finishing your plate, like this goes back even further. So your parents sit there, you're gonna sit there and eat all your food. If you come from a family of food waste where food was scarce and you're just like,

you're gonna sit there and you eat your food because we're just so grateful to have the food, that can be really ingrained in the language that you were raised with. Even though you have a house full of food, you can feel like there's not enough food. You know, also not just eat everything on your plate, but you're going to sit there and finish your broccoli, for example. I mean, I say broccoli because broccoli is so healthy, but it's also very hard to digest. Cruciferous vegetables hard to digest, they're quite gassy.

As an adult, you can have a hard time digesting them, let alone being a small child. And let's say your parent is like, eat it, it's good for you. And yet you're like, okay, but it makes my tummy upset. So you learn to still consume foods that make you not feel well, and we normalize that. So we normalize eating too much.

We normalize eating foods that don't make us feel well. We normalize waiting long pairs of time without eating. Oh, I am hungry, can I have a snack? No, dinner is in three hours, you can wait. You can wait or you add dieting on top of that and you are literally purposely trying to ignore your hunger cues. That's not what we're doing here.

We're not trying to ignore your hunger cues, you're trying to be in tune to your hunger cues. That's not what we're doing here. We're not trying to ignore your hunger cues. You're trying to be in tune to your hunger cues. It's the same thing. We don't have rigid rules. We have guidelines. It's like eating after dinner, for example. Eating after dinner is probably not why you gained your weight. Not eating after dinner is really helpful because then your body can process on repairing, focus on repairing and rebuilding and detoxing while you're asleep, which is what your body does when you sleep. And when you're not getting sleep, you tend to crave more carbs and sugar next day. You tend to be more insulin resistant or less sensitive to insulin.

And so the way your body processes your foods is different going back to our to our sleep thing, you know. So, so, so I love that you recognize that. So first of all, there's two different things going on. So there's your cholesterol. So look into those. And then in terms of leaving food on your plate, this is where you capture cancel correct. And I know if you had an opportunity to listen to that conversation with Dr. Beverly David. So you leave food on your plate. You're not wasting anything. Right? So if you have a food waste issue, for example, you eating food you don't need isn't saving food. That's not saving food. Now you can put it in a container, put it in your fridge, out of set, out of mind. How many of us end up throwing food away and putting it in our green bins at the end of the day from our fridge?

That's a different situation. We can let a whole bag of lettuce rot at the end of the day, but we can't leave a few bites Less on our plate if you think about that, right and no one likes to no one likes to waste food Tony can't stand wasting food. Oh my goodness. You should see him. He's like I don't even I don't even go near him on thursday morning Like I don't even I don't even go near him on Thursday morning. He's laughing because it's true. You can't stand it. And because he was raised from a family where food is like sacred, you eat your food. We're grateful we have food.

There was not an abundance of food. And so he can't stand it. I mean, rightfully so. No one wants to waste food at the end of the day. So capture, cancel, correct it. Right? Like me eating this food is not saving food. Like capture that you're doing this. Oh, I have an issue with it, right? Cancel it. Me eating

this food is not going to save my food waste issues at the end of the day. It's okay for me to leave this food. I can pack it up, put it in a container and then correct it, right? I'm here to learn how to be in tune to my body's needs. What I can do in the to learn how to be in tune to my body's needs. What I can do in the future because I will be in tune to my body's needs is portion out the appropriate amount for me that I feel like is a good serving for me. Right? And as I get more in tune, people talk about how expensive groceries are, but at the end of the program, people will talk about how they spend less money on groceries because they're less likely buying processed foods. They're not eating as much food and therefore they're actually saving food at the

end of the day. So the fact that you're aware of this, that is so huge. This is why, you know, we have people who've gotten lost weight and they're in maintenance and they're still dealing with their food waste issues because you're talking like 40 years of thinking a certain way when it comes to food, and maybe not even realizing it. Now that you're realizing, it can take a little bit longer, right? We all have that one friend

whose opinion we trust on everything. For 63% of podcast listeners, that friend is their favorite podcast host. When Acast's podcasters endorse a brand, their audience listens and takes action. So if you want a recommendation that really sticks, put your brand in their hands. Book a HostRed sponsorship today by visiting go.acast.com slash ads. Good morning. Down 10.4 pounds as of today.

Feeling amazing. Best plan I've ever done and I've done them all. I love hearing that. That's what we want. There's a lot of programs out there. We want to be one that you feel good about doing that you walk away physically feeling better mentally feeling better, you know, actually having made real foundational change and fat loss over weight loss, right? That's what we're after at the end of the day. What does that mean? We are wanting you to lose weight not by eating fish crackers and triscuits in a 600 calorie diet. We want you to lose weight by giving your body the protein, the carbohydrates, the nutrients it needs in order to make change. This is why you want to make sure you're getting enough protein in your diet. You want to make sure you're getting

those leafy greens. You want to make sure that you are not low carb. This comes to light later on in the program where people think they're not eating any carbs. I saw someone the other day saying, I haven't eaten any carbs. Fruits are carbohydrates, vegetables are carbohydrates, grains, carbohydrates, rice, carbohydrates, quinoa, potatoes, squashes, all these things are in program and plan. Right? It's breads and pastas, which really in reality are more of a processed food product. But I know the world has kind of considered those are carbs, carbs are carbs, carbs, carbs. It's eating the right foods at the right time. And so there's no good foods, there's no bad foods. It's just really just, really just trying to feel good about what you're doing,

the choices that you're making, walk away feeling healthier physically, mentally, and repairing your relationship not just with food but with yourself and other people as well, right? So I love hearing that. And it's not about the weight. You'll realize at the end of the day the weight, yes, is important, but you feeling your best and you feeling like you are in control. And I don't like the word control or moderate, but in control of how you feel and you are able to make the choices that you want to make. And sometimes that is having the margarita. It sometimes is having the chips. Sometimes it's having the chocolate, the ice cream, right?

Like that's what this is. It's it's about wanting you also to get to a place where you can enjoy all the yummy bites of bits without guilt, without shame. Counting calories doesn't help you with guilt. It doesn't help you with shame. Picking JLP ones doesn't help you with guilt, doesn't help you with shame. Picking GLP-1s doesn't help you with guilt, doesn't help you with shame. Can be a game changer and super helpful,

but doesn't help with those things, right? We want you to get to a place where you're calm around food. That's where if you freaking the fuck out this week, think about that. We want you to get to a place where you're calm around food. In order for you to get to be calm around food, you got to work through the shit that's

popping up this week. Right. And we had other fun tweaks that are going to bring up more shit for you. So just as you clear the shit, more shit lands in your lap. Super fun. Hi, Sharon. I was really hungry last night, so I thought I would drink some water. I had a terrible sleep, but I was down 1.5 pounds today.

I'm off to a slow start. You know, while you're off, you're not off to a slow start, had a terrible sleep, but I was down 1.5 pounds today. I'm off to a slow start. You know, while you're off, you're off, you're not off to a slow start, maybe on the scale, but all the efforts that you put into this are adding up, right? Solidifying the weight that you've lost before, getting your body up to where it feels like, okay, it's go time with all of that. But I hear you. Um, that's what I want to remind you. It's the few bites last.

Chances are you are more mentally hungry thinking oh my god I need I haven't eaten what I need to eat and that's very difficult but if you're hungry in the evening and your weight hasn't dropped in a bit because you're not gonna lose weight every day that could be a sign your weight is about to drop right so combine that with how am I feeling is water appealing no am I feeling a little bloated and I'm feeling a little run down? Is my weight been up? Yes. Okay. That's probably a sign that maybe it's on the way down.

My weight has gone up seven pounds since January, 12 pounds since March, 2024 while doing the plan though I didn't finish the last one due to some family stuff with parents, I started HRT three months ago and have noticed major menopause belly sins. Nothing fits this summer. While I was active, I didn't regularly exercise, but I've started about three weeks ago. Makes me nervous as I'm hungry on this plan, but will regularly exercise running, shingles, tennis, finally break this upper trend help me lose this weight I initially lost in my second program okay okay so stress sleep and I know we just want it to be about food I know we just want it to be about food I notice that you say that you didn't regularly, you were active and you didn't regularly exercise.

Also, same. And I just, I talk about myself because it's the only reference that I have, right? So I, like I was talking about, easily maintained my weight. I was active. And then I got hit with the, it sounds like you got a bit of stress with family stuff and parents, right?

It sounds like you've got some, it's again, it's not menopause does not cause weights gain. It's not menopause and your hormones. It's usually how the symptoms of menopause are affecting you, right? It's all of a sudden you go to menopause and it causes weight gain. That's not it. And you'll hear from Dr. Jennifer Zalawitzky. So join us next Wednesday, Dr. Jennifer Zalawitzky. She's an MD and a menopause expert. She's going to come on, a menopauseist or a gym. She's going to talk about HRT. Taking HRT isn't necessarily going to help

you lose weight. It will help you with your symptoms which can in a roundabout way help you lose weight. I'm going to, it took me and I know this is not motivating, but this is, it took me about two years to get a handle and I'm finally feeling my best now. Also, I was drinking, the guy I was like when that, when my life was starting that allotted chaos, I was drinking as a way to manage what was going on. So I'm just full transparency on that, which did not help me at all. And so when it comes to, and it's taken me two years, I finally, someone said the other day, you look like you've lost weight I have because my weight went up if you go into the last couple of groups and

I talked about it it's not like it wasn't transparent about it um my weight is back down I'm on the higher end I'm like 130 I've gone on the scale today and it's on the little bit on the higher end because my range was always like 120 to 130 and it went up this like 16 pounds. And so it's taken me almost two years. I had to do things like, and this is where you think I'm going to tell you to make sure you're eating enough protein. Yeah, make sure you're eating enough protein. That's important.

Make sure but what you're at this way, we're prioritizing protein at breakfast, right? The only time you're not adding protein is that morning fruit snack. And there's a reason you want to if you start your day higher on protein, or you choose not to have breakfast, then you want to make sure you replenish those glycogen stores. And that's going to change as we go along. So you're going to eventually be able to add protein to your breakfast. You there's protein at lunch, there's protein, you can add protein to your vegetable snack, right? And a boiled egg. You can add whatever you want, protein shake if you wanted to there. And yes, I'm not a fan for liquid nutrients,

especially in the morning, but you could add that extra protein in if you want for sure. You're getting your nuts and seeds which are higher in protein. Of course, your dinner is focused on protein. So making sure you're getting enough protein in your diet. The other thing I would say to you is resistance training.

Because I'm a cardio queen. I used to come from like high, high, like I was an aerobics, like not only aerobics instructor and a robot was on stage doing the aerobics thing. I'm like the cardio queen here. And yes, I also, you know, lifted weights and did whatever as well, but cardio was it. And it's not cardio. It's not burn the fat off, burn the fat off, burn the fat off. It's as we get older. So when you do a lot of diets, that's why I was just talking about fat loss

versus weight loss. When you do a starvation diet, you're not giving the body the nutrients that it needs. You will lose weight, like fat, water weight, fat, also muscle. So every time you've lost weight, you lose a considerable amount of muscle. And as you lose that muscle, when you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down

into glycogen. So you need carbohydrates in your diets. Why? This is not a low carb diet, right carb, right time. And your body stores that glycogen in your liver, primarily in your muscle, and then in your liver, primarily in your muscle, and then in your fat. So if you no longer have that muscle mass because of past dieting, because of aging, but really aging because we become less active, right?

It stores it in your fat, and that's where you're going to find it in your midsection. And so one of the things that I did was, yes, start walking. That's where you're going to find it in your midsection. One of the things that I did was, yes, start walking. I also got a weighted vest, but I cut down on my cardio. The walking for me was the mental part of it. I know we had that conversation with Dr. Jennifer Zalawitzki. If you're walking, walking, walking, walking, not losing any weight, chances are you've got to be lifting the weights.

It's the muscle that's the issue. For me, walking was a game changer because it was time for myself and it did wonders for my mind and my stress. And then adding in that weight training component, that can be a game changer, making sure that you are building muscle, maintaining muscle. The other is stress. So when you're a protein, you're making sure you're building muscle. I had to like say no for like no to things.

I'm like, I'm not doing it. Because I was like, I love what I do. I had made commitments to people. I had to just say, no, I can't do it. And they were mad. People are mad at me. You're not true to your word and you're not committed. And you know what?

I'm just like, I'm also fucking hanging on by a thread here. I quit drinking wine, especially. I haven't, I have actually, I had a glass of wine last week, but I didn't finish it because it just makes me feel not good. So I cut out alcohol for quite a while, right? And not that I'm, I can have it, I make my own fucking rules at the end of the day. It's not, I'm no martyr and I'm no longer drinking. I just realized it wasn't helping me. That was a game changer because then that helped with my sleep.

So really being a hard ass about my protective, about my stress, like I really had to say no, really had to just quit drinking altogether, which was a game changer, helped me really get a handle on things. I like, if Tony and I are away or whatever, the odd time I'm out, I will have, what do I drink? What are those drinks I drink? Old fashions. I love a good old fashion or like an espresso decaf espresso martini. But I'm not drinking a bottle of fucking wine like I was every night, like I was drinking before. So let me put

it that way. I want to be real honest about that. And so that was that, but it was really just time. And I, it was really time. What I love about the Living Method and what you're doing is you are being aware of what you need. You're trying to manage your stress, get better sleep, make sure you're giving your body the nutrients that it needs. Supplements are really big too. Supplements like your Omega-3, make sure you get Vitamin D. Magnesium is a game changer. You will notice if, for example, you look up any menopause protocol,

it's all the same supplements that we're suggesting here, because those are the same supplements that your body needs when you are making change, when trying to lose weight, when you're getting older, when you're going through menopause. And so those were really beneficial there as well. Hungrier, don't be afraid of hungrier. Like don't be afraid of hunger. Right? Like, if you're same thing with your program, like if you are a person who works out a lot, the portions that you are consuming are what you need in the moment. Right? So you might have days where you work out and

you're really hungry. And then days where you're not working out, you're not so hungry. So whether you work out a lot or whether you work out or you don't work out, like I never needed really anyone to be able to have to work out in order to lose weight. But if you're looking at how quickly you want to lose that weight, it absolutely helps if you're building that muscle,

maintaining your muscle mass at the end of the day. Everyone's a little different in terms of what they need. But don't be afraid of hunger. So you wanna make sure you're getting that protein and fat protein and fat feed into your satiety hormones make you feel more satisfied. You also wanna make sure you're eating the carbohydrates that you need.

And so you can have rice, quinoa, potatoes at lunchtime is the best place to have them when you have the rest of the day for your body to utilize them before you go to bed. Not necessarily the best time to be adding them in unless of course you're active in the evening. And so a lot of people make mistake thinking this is like no carb, low carb when it's not. And so if you're not getting those carbs in, you might not be feeling as satiated as you need to, which is why you're hungry. And so yes, you need to be mindful of what you're eating. But you also have to be mindful of the kinds of foods that you're eating as well. Right? So don't be afraid of that hunger. Check in with your doctor again, like express how hungry you're feeling

and and go through the program and plan and But if you are just starting to exercise more, you might notice you are hungrier now. If you are just eating salads every day, that might not be it for you. You might wanna make sure you're bumping those up a little bit. Taking the supplements that you need, that can really help with that.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. But I hear you. I mean, Tana, and here's what I would say is like also, you could be getting a lot more weight if you haven't been doing the things that you have been doing, especially, you know, when it comes to stress and what you're dealing with your parents and whatever. And my hope for you is at least this has kept you focused and help you create space for what you need. At the end of the day, right. And sometimes that's what this is about. And let's take it back to how I started this. Let's say

you did Weight Watchers, right, you sign up for Weight Watchers or new or whatever diet it was, you started it. And then you have moments where you're doing really well. And then you have moments where life is getting in the way you got stressed, and you're not doing really well. And then you start that diet again, and you keep going and you keep going and you have moments where life is getting in the way you got stressed and you're not doing really well And then you start that diet again and you keep going and you keep going then you have times where you're doing really well And then times where you're not doing back and then the living method is no different But I think the structure sometimes stresses people out of these 91 day the 91 day chunks of time are meant to be digestible Where you can be like, okay, this was this was this

You know three months of my life, this happened, that happened, this is what I did, this what I didn't, let's move this to the side. And as I do my next round, I get to have that kind of fresh mindset. Okay, where am I at now? What do I need? Going through this chunk of three months time, it helps you sort of see and break down rather than being one long ass, you know, lifetime membership to weight loss. It helps you kind of compartmentalize and be able to take a step back and see, okay, what was going on in my life with that program? What was going on in my life? This program, you know, I first of all, I'm going to be at the the healthy women's living show, healthy,

healthy women, healthy living women show healthy. The fuck is the name of it? It's new. It's new. the Healthy Women's Living Show, Healthy Women, Healthy Living Women's Show, Healthy, the fuck is the name of it? It's new. It's new. It's new. It seems really cool. It's a women's show that's about workshops and learning, not just walking through and seeing vendors. June 7th and 8th, I'm going to open up the show, 9.15 in the morning on June 7th. So if you want to come, hang out with me, I'm going to be there. I think it's going to be really cool. I love their whole concept. We also have a code Gina two for one where you can sign up to people for one. I think that not sure how I'll post more information. My point was I was at the national women's show last November

and I met so many women who are so well intended. Oh, I did my program and I just had a hard time and I'm gained weight and I'm this and that. And so well-intended. Oh, I did my program and I just had a hard time and I've gained weight and I have this and I'm that. And I say to them, someone would say, I need to kick in the ass. I need to be motivated. And I'm like, no, tell me what's going on in your life that you were unable to lose the weight.

Tell me what's going on in your life that you gained weight. And everyone had a story. Everyone had a story. Oh, well, I was dealing with my parents and I had stress. Oh, I'm going through this and going through that. Everyone had a story. Oh, well, I was dealing with my parents and I had stress. I'm going through this and going through that. Everyone had a story. There was always a reason why they had a hard time losing weight, why they maybe gained weight back, why they signed up and didn't start. And no one thinks about that because it's just so easy. Eat less and exercise more.

And you should be able to do that. And if you can't do that, you have no willpower. And that's not it. Right? That's not it at all. That's not it at all. So it's about taking a look at your life. What do I really have going on? And not being in denial about that.

Cause like, if you asked me, I was in denial. I know what I need to do. I know what I need to do. I know what I needed to do. I needed to go see my doctor. That's what I needed to do. Right? I needed to, I needed to make some serious change in my life. So sometimes we think we know what we needed to do. I needed to make some serious change in my life.

So sometimes we think we know what we need to do, but we're not actually doing the things that we need to do either. So thanks for joining me today. I have got to... Hi Martha, not sure if I deleted my comments. So try again. Need to quiet the stress in my head because it's interfering with thinking and picking up on the hunger and other food related cues I'm supposed to be addressing.

Anyone else having this strategies? Yeah, that food noise is big. It'll come with practice. Awareness is the first piece. Awareness is the first piece. So you're there. You are aware. Things like just taking a minute, grounding yourself.

My brain is like, and this is where I actually have to take time and be like, calm down, shutter down, quiet the noise. I actually have to say that out loud, ground myself, I put my feet on the ground, connect up. Right? Like let's just get that energy flowing in a calm state. And then that's usually when I can make a better decision, respond better, I'm just nicer. When I'm just like, and that's one of the things I'm working on this year is just kind of staying in that state and being in the moment.

And it's about being in the moment. That's what you're having a hard time doing, being in this moment, you got this going on, that going on. And the food noise is meant to be brought up. You might want to this is turning the volume up on it. Or you might need to be a person turns the volume down on it. Which one are you? I love turning the volume up because I'm like, bring it on. I want to work through this shit. I want to see what's going on so I can make change. But also sometimes you need a minute and you need to turn down the volume and be like, okay, one thing at a time, one thing at a time. So just taking

that deep breath in chewing your food and having a conversation with yourself. I talk to myself all the time, right? That had that conversation with yourself. Don't try to push it away, shove it down, ignore it, any of those things. Have a great day, everyone. What is today? Today is Thursday. I'll be back tomorrow, Friday. Have fun with downsizing. What are you learning about yourself? That's what this is about.

That's what this is about. I had that saying, as long as you keep showing up, you can't mess it up, honestly, because it's not about being perfect. It's not about following rigid rules. It's about what are you learning about yourself? What do you need to learn about yourself to make change at the end of the day and then be able to sustain that change? Have a fantastic rest

of your day. Don't forget about our big sale on Monday, our biggest sale of the year. You can pick up the program for like $74 for our fall program. If you have any friends or family who are interested, they can also take part. All you have to do is go to our website. I think I drew my eyebrows on a little bit weird today. I got this one eyebrow that's up here. Anyway, I digress Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Do you remember the brand that popped up while you were scrolling your social feed? No, but I bet you remember who sponsors your favorite podcast That's because 74% of listeners recall the brands

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